4.28.2011

I am hitting the road for a long anticipated weekend teaching at Loopy Ewe's Spring Fling and managed to get a new design in shape enough to work on while I'm there! I've been knitting and ripping and knitting and ripping this baby on and off all week and finally have GOT IT (i think...)! I am posting this in hope that it will motivate me to show you how much I have gotten done while I am ensconced in a hotel in St Louis with 200 knitters. When I'm not teaching I plan on working on this bad boy while talking, eating, drinking, laughing, and maybe even watching the Royal Wedding... I seriously cannot tell you how excited I am to get to the airport and let this weekend begin!

4.26.2011

Notice I've been a little quieter than usual here? There's good reason for that! Besides being distracted by spring break I've been working on a new project.

Adorn is a collection of knitted jewelry designs. Patterns will be released once a month, starting with May's pattern, Ribband and ending in December.
There will also be two surprises, for a total of 10 designs.
These are great projects to get you playing with beads, to make as gifts, to keep in your purse for portable knitting projects,
and most importantly to get you started on creating a beads stash (if you don't have one already!)

There will be necklaces, bracelets, earrings, scarflettes, and maybe even a belt.... not all designs will incorporate beads, though most will.

Each of the patterns will also be sold separately. When you buy the entire collection as an ebook, you will also get two SURPRISE designs which will not be available for purchase alone.

Ribband, May's pattern, is a 34" long strand of knitting and is based on a simple 4-stitch, 2-row repeat. It only needs 10 yards of fingering or lace weight yarn. Ribband can be worn as a necklace, or a cuff and is perfect for throwing on with a t-shirt and jeans as we head into the warmer months. Ribband will get it's own blog post next week... promise!

I ended my 24 hours with a wonderful time knitting (and shopping) at Knitty City. I LOVE that store and it's knitting community, everyone was immediately warm and welcoming, in fact, it was such a wonderful visit that I forgot to take pictures! Whoops! Forgive me Knitty City?

4.13.2011

I originally shot this video for my Mystery KAL, but as so many more of my patterns involve stringing beads on yarn I decided it was time to get it out there for you all!

By the way, the KAL is going phenomenally... I've been brought to tears more than once by the supportive energy in my group on Ravelry; someone might have to
tell me to "man-up" soon! Some have been struggling with clue
#2, but everyone else who has "gotten" it has been rallying around them, encouraging and not allowing them to give up. I had no idea what it would look like with 430 knitters making the same mystery together, and all I can say is WOW! I can't wait to share pics once they are farther along!!!!!

4.09.2011

Con't from Mitten Swap Part One...I was
finished with the first mitten, and just starting the second, when my
package from Norway came with my swap partner's mittens for me. I
decided I was not allowed to open it until I finished and mailed off the
Maya mittens, which really lit a fire under my proverbial behind! I
had a wonderful time finding goodies to package with the mitts, wrapped
it all up, popped them in the mail, and ran home to open my surprise.

And
WOW, OsloAnn sent me not one but TWO pairs of the most gorgeous
mittens.... The
1st pair is knit in 2-ply Rauma in a traditional Selbuvotter pattern,
this wool is going to keep me warm when skiing starts again next
winter.

The 2nd pair are knit from Skinny Bugga and Black Bunny Fibers in the pattern Overhogdal from Solveigs Vantar (by Solveig Larsson). They have the sweetest deer with the biggest rack I have ever seen! LOVE THEM!

This
was my first, and definitely not my last swap, what fun to knit and
shop for gifts for someone else... and then receive a package in the
mail. It was the perfect pick-me-up for my end of the winter blues!

4.08.2011

On a cold and snowy day in February I was sucking down my coffee and strolling through my twitter feed when I saw all this chatter about color work mittens between a few twitterers.... all of sudden I somehow signed myself up for my first ever swap. This swap represented a great challenge for me as I had never knit a colorwork mitten before! Then it got scary... I had been assigned to knit for Torirot, a knitter from Norway, in my mind, the home of the colorwork mitten, AND another amazing knitter from Norway, OsloAnn, would be knitting for me.... oh my!

I began trolling the internet and Ravelry for mittens and patterns I loved. When I stumbled along these I knew I hit a chord. Then it was time to go yarn shopping at Knitting Etc. I've always had a passion for Crazy Zauberball, and hadn't come up with an excuse to buy any yet and when I saw a red/orange/gold ball I was SOLD. Knitting Etc has an excellent selection of Jamieson's and I spent a fair amount of time playing with colors until I fell in love with some purple. When I got home, I read again about Torirot's desires, and saw she had red and purple at the TOP of her color choices, PERFECTO!

Somewhere in all of that I decided there was no way I could not design the mittens, and since I had Belize on the brain, Maya Mittens were conceived.

Wee Mayan temples surround the palm, with a sun motif emblazoned on the back of each hand. Parts of these mittens were challenging as there were many places that the floats were more than 5 stitches long, so a fair amount of "catching" of floats had to be worked.

I just have to decide if I am going to write this pattern up or not, they are so different than my typical designs, but I LOVE them!

I'll be back tomorrow with Part II of this post where I share with you want OsloAnn made for me : )!

4.04.2011

Anybody noticed my need to make wee things to celebrate the changing seasons this year? I made the cutest acorns this fall, and then don't forget the 'lil hearts in February... well guess what? The birds are raucous and nesting in the bushes outside my office window, which means it's time for spring and some EGGS!

These little crochet babies are simple to make and I'm happy to share the pattern with you. They are perfect for whipping up to pop in an Easter basket, or perhaps scattered around a centerpiece on your dining table...

Rnd 1: Single crochet 5 into the center of the circle. Rnd 2: Single crochet in every stitch of the chain around. Rnd 3: Single crochet twice in every stitch of the chain around. [10 stitches]Rnds 4-5: Single crochet in every stitch around.Rnd 6: *Single crochet in next stitch, single crochet twice in next stitch;
rpt from * around. [15 stitches]Rnd 7: Single crochet around.Rnd 8: Single crochet 2 together four times, sc1, Single crochet 2 together
three times. [8 stitches]Rnd 9: Single crochet 2 together around. [4 stitches]
Pull up tight, cut yarn and weave in end to close bottom of egg.